Clearly, I'm a rookie! What is confounding me is that the message seems to transfer to further attempts to practice in spite of my closing without saving. I assumed that if I did this any past set-up, or file, I might be working on would be erased. But it seems to follow me and thwart any attempts to successfully carry on. How might I "get out of" compound paths.

I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that compound paths means I'm attempting to work one project over another, and that they are conflicting. Is this correct? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You might want to practice al little. Open a new file and just draw a path with the Pen tool. Click and hold with the mouse on the Text tool to reveal other options. The Type on a Path tool is the third one down. Select it and then click on the path you just drew. Start typing your text. It seems as though you are using some odd construct as a path for your type.